Main Course
8665 recipes found
Murg Malai Kebab
While dining at the Tamarind Tribeca in Manhattan, I had a terrific kebab of tender, marinated chicken breast, zapped judiciously with spice. It was enough to give pause to all those, including me, who consider chicken breast a boring blank slate. The restaurant does not serve the chicken on skewers, as one might expect for a kebab. But I found that using them greatly simplified turning the chicken while it cooked.
Pasta With Spicy Sausages, Tomatoes, Rosemary and Olives
Chicken Meatballs, Italian Style
Grilled Mushrooms in Foil Packets
If you like to grill foods at a picnic, here's a great vegetarian option. Prepare these packets at home, then pack them, ready to grill, in your picnic basket. The recipe is inspired by one in Patricia Wells's cookbook "Vegetable Harvest.” You can make this with cultivated or wild mushrooms.
Grilled Chicken Breasts Stuffed With Herb Butter
Chicken Quesadillas With Avocado-Cucumber Salsa
There is one caveat when using leftover grilled meat. As the meat chills, the flavors recede, becoming quieter and mellower. For these quesadillas that I made out of Sunday’s grilled chicken thighs, shredded and stuffed into a corn tortilla with a little cheese and quickly toasted, I stirred together a lime-zest-imbued cucumber and avocado salsa that added a welcome citrus edge.
Italian Sausage Sandwiches
These tasty sausage and melted provolone sandwiches are a snap to put together and can be made with grilled, roasted or pan-fried sausages. A quick slaw of cabbage, carrots, mayonnaise and pickled peppers adds a moist and spicy crunch.
Inside-Out Lamb Persillade
Boneless leg of lamb is a good choice because it is nicely suited to stuffing. Most supermarkets and butchers carry already-boned leg of lamb, and if they don’t they’re capable of doing it for you quickly. Toss on the persillade and fold one half of the meat on top of the other. Then roast it. The persillade stays put and flavors the meat beautifully. You won't serve a prestigious cut, but you'll serve a meaty, great-tasting one.
Stale-Bread Pizza
Escarole Soup With Rice
Simple Pad Thai
Pad Thai is essentially a stir-fry and requires little more than chopping and stirring. It comes together in less than a half-hour. First you'll need rice stick noodles, which are pale, translucent, flat and range from very thin to more than a quarter-inch wide; you soak them in hot water until they’re tender. Meanwhile, make a sauce from tamarind paste, now easily found in larger supermarkets or online. The paste, made from the pulp of the tamarind pod, is very sour, but more complex than citrus. (It can vary widely in its potency, so be sure to taste as you go.) Made from fermented anchovies (and much like the garum of ancient Rome), fish sauce (nam pla) is another important ingredient. Honey and rice vinegar round things out.
Chickpea Tagine With Chicken and Apricots
Tagines, the slow-cooked, deeply aromatic stews of North Africa, are traditionally made and served in distinctive clay pots, often with lamb, and usually over couscous. This isn’t a traditional version: It’s fairly quick, and it relies on a heavy-bottomed saucepan rather than a tagine. With chicken thighs, bulgur, chickpeas and dried apricots, it comes together to produce an Americanized version that is a super one-pot dinner, fast enough for a weeknight despite the long ingredient list, and infinitely variable.
Roasted Halibut With Lemons, Olives and Rosemary
Fish can be finicky dinner-party fare, especially for the distracted cook. Step away for a moment to sip your cocktail and your fillets might go from pearly to parched. This dish, though, inspired by one from Southern Italy, elegantly feeds a crowd. The fish, halibut, is seasoned with chile, salt and olive oil, then topped with rosemary, lemon and olives and roasted. It’s a lighter main dish that won’t leave anyone hungry.
Chicken Teriyaki
Teriyaki is derived from the Japanese root words teri, which means “to shine,” and yaki, which means “to broil or grill.” That’s the way traditional teriyaki looks: shiny and incised with grill marks. In Japan, teriyaki is a mix of soy sauce, sake and the rice wine mirin, which imparts a subtle sweetness. The teriyaki found throughout Seattle, of which this is an adaptation, is a bit more showy. Cooks sweeten with white sugar and pineapple juice. They thicken with cornstarch. Ginger and garlic go into the mix because of the Korean ancestry of many cooks. It is not at all traditional, but it is simple to prepare and a pleasure to eat. Be sure to plan ahead as you do need to marinate the chicken before cooking. An overnight stay in the fridge is ideal, but many readers have been happy with a quick marinade of an hour or so.
Granola
I used to make a rich holiday granola, but often it burned and stuck to the baking sheets. One of the reasons: I used wheat germ, which browns more quickly than oats. Now I keep the heat low in my oven and line my baking sheets with parchment. Be sure to stir the granola every 10 to 15 minutes, and switch the trays from top to bottom each time you stir. If you want to make a smaller amount, you can halve this recipe.
Dry-Brined Turkey
This fantastic turkey recipe borrows a technique perfected by Judy Rodgers, the chef from the Zuni Café in San Francisco, who had exceptional results salting chickens long before roasting them (also called dry-brining). No more fussy liquid brine that alters the texture of the meat — just crisp, golden skin and tender, moist meat. This turkey will be the talk of the table. Allow two days for the bird to season before roasting.
Sautéed Salmon With Brown Butter Cucumbers
A gorgeous salmon fillet needs little more than a sprinkling of salt and pepper and a few minutes of gentle sautéeing in melted butter. You could stop there and serve the fish with salad and a crusty piece of bread. Or you could go one quick step further and add minced garlic, chopped cucumber and dill to the pan. The cucumber turns nutty in the pan’s brown butter, with a tender exterior that remains crunchy in the middle — a nice contrast to the silky salmon. Wild salmon, which is costlier than farmed fish, is worth the price for its sweet, smooth texture and brilliant color. Be sure not to overcook the fillets, which should be soft and barely opaque.
Creamy Pasta With Smoked Bacon and Peas
This elegant riff on a childhood favorite came to The Times in 2009 by way of Jamie Oliver, the British chef and cookbook author. It was featured in his cookbook “Jamie’s Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals," and it's a favorite of his daughters, Poppy and Daisy. It's wholesome (no powdered cheese!), and it can be ready in about 15 minutes.
Korean Fried Chicken
Yangnyeom dak, or Korean fried chicken, known for its crunchy exterior and spicy-sweet glaze, became popular in South Korea when fast-food places opened there after the war. Along with budae jjigae, tteokbokki and corn cheese, it’s part of a category of food known as “anju,” or dishes typically eaten with alcohol, but it's a crispy, sticky delight no matter what you're drinking. This five-star version, which was adapted from “Quick & Easy Korean Cooking” by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee (Chronicle, 2009), can be made with boneless chicken thighs or bone-in wings.
Grilled Clams With Lemon-Cayenne Butter
Chinese Fried Rice With Shrimp and Peas
This is a more subdued version of fried rice than the spicier Thai fried rice. It’s a great dish to make if you have cooked rice on hand and a great vehicle for whatever vegetables may be in your refrigerator. Feel free to add other cooked vegetables, meat or seafood.
Easy Huevos Rancheros
Fried eggs on warm corn tortillas, topped with cooked tomato salsa — it’s a classic dish, though I probably make it a little differently than they do at your neighborhood Tex-Mex restaurant. This recipe makes for an easy supper or a great Mexican breakfast.
Roasted Chicken Thighs With Peaches, Basil and Ginger
A ripe, succulent peach is one of nature’s greatest gifts. But a hard peach? It, too, is a gift, especially in this simple recipe from Melissa Clark. A roast in a 400-degree oven cooks the peaches alongside boneless, skinless chicken thighs, drawing out their flavor and softening them as they meld with those flavorful drippings. Speaking of those pan juices, don’t cast them aside: Sop them up instead with crusty bread. You won’t regret it.
Moroccan Tomato Soup
This recipe, originally featured in a 1991 column by Barbara Kafka, was rehashed in a piece by Amanda Hesser in 2009. The idea is simple: Aromatic spices are toasted in a small saucepan, paired with tomatoes, and served chilled. The end result is a refreshing soup, full of flavor.